


its a kind of magic

by na_scathach



Series: valgrace week 2k19 [2]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: 2 years to be precise, Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Childhood Friends, Explicit Language, F/F, F/M, Gryffindor Jason Grace, M/M, One Shot, Post-Battle of Hogwarts, Slytherin Leo Valdez, Teen Romance, Tutoring
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-03
Updated: 2019-07-03
Packaged: 2020-06-03 04:53:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19456759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/na_scathach/pseuds/na_scathach
Summary: Jason Grace is desperate.He's failing Potions and he cannot afford to fail Potions. He can't afford to Fail. Full Stop.So who better to go to than all-around prodigy, Slytherin Leo Valdez, outcast, prankster, Seeker and Jason's childhood crush....(Hogwarts AU for Valgrace Week)





	its a kind of magic

**Author's Note:**

> im a bit late lads but eh. 
> 
> also, warning. Its been years since ive read HP and it was never my favourite bookseries as a kid, so if i get stuff wrong, know that this is fanfiction and to not take this too seriously. im making up shit on the f l y when it comes to some stuff so try not to get too annoyed with me.

Jason can do this. 

He is Jason Grace. Son of Jupiter and Beryl Grace, Pure-Blood Gryffindor, Chaser on his house team. He’s survived The War and Voldemort’s short reign at Hogwarts. 

He may not be Harry Potter, but at least he thinks he can survive Leo Valdez. 

He sneaks a glance around the corner of the bookshelf to wear Leo is sitting and- yup. Hair tied back, face smudged with ink, wearing those strange muggle clothing with his strange jacket and strange short-sleeved shirt and those _jeans_ things, which are black and very tight and have large gashes running up them, revealing smooth dark skin-

He can _do_ this. 

Leo Valdez. Son of Hephaestus Smythe and Esperanza Valdez. He knows enough about Leo’s family considering both his Father and Leo’s are on the Wizengamot together. Slytherin House Seeker. Comes from a traditionally Ravenclaw family. Pureblood, from a Sacred 28 Family and one of the oldest families in North America. Has a cool American accent, on account of being raised there with his mother. Of Meso-American descent on his mother’s side. Afro-Caribean on his Father’s. His eyes are brown, like deep polished wood, or fresh earth, similar to his skin-tone, but that has a golden undertone to it and-

Oh, Merlin, Jason is a creep. 

Jason straightens, looking around to make sure no-one saw him making love-y dove-y eyes at Leo Valdez from behind a bookshelf for 5 minutes. The Library is blessedly empty. Thankfully, the only people insane enough to come here on a Saturday morning are himself and Leo. 

He steps out and pats down his robes, suddenly self-conscious. The last time he and Leo talked properly, Leo had just watched his brother die and Jason was bleeding out from a sectumsempra curse, so he was really dragging up good memories there. 

Before that, Jason thinks they might’ve been friends. Well, as much as friends as a Slytherin and a Gryffindor _could_ be. They talked and chatted and occasionally would help each other with homework, but then it was 4th year and Dumbledore was dead and Voldemort was gaining power and the cruciatus curse was a common spell in class and in the halls. 

And there was war in Hogwarts and Thalia was trapped under rocks and Jason was slowly bleeding out and Leo was still screaming for his dead brother-

_‘Not now, Grace,’_ he thought, shaking the cobwebs out of his brain. He’s a big boy. 18 years of age and in his final year of Hogwarts. Jason thinks that asking his childhood crush for some help in potions shouldn’t be hard. 

So, with newfound strength, he strides from behind the bookshelf and over to where Leo is sitting by a desk, books scattered about him. 

“Hey, Leo,” he starts, voice level and a smile pulling at his mouth. Be friendly, be nice, be kind, you’re asking favours-

Leo looks up with dark, bored eyes that casually disassemble Jason in _seconds._

“Grace? What’s got you in these parts? Prowling the halls for ruffians? Making sure no scallywag is causing Pince any undue stress?” he drawls, amusement sparking under his eyes. 

Jason scowls. He had almost forgotten how…..annoying Leo could be. 

Almost. 

He had hoped Leo had matured from teasing, but here he is, being subjected to Leo’s because Jason believes the Restricted section isn’t a place where you should be eating strange American sweets and studying dark magic.

“No. Actually, I was wondering if…..” he starts, swallowing thickly. Why is he nervous, suddenly?. Leo’s eyes are still playfully tearing him limb from limb, looking into the darkest recess of his soul and grinning. But there’s an edge to it now. Something Jason can’t quite put his finger on….

“If you would mind….helping me. With Potions. I’ll pay you, of course, but I think I’m going to fail my N.E.W.Ts and if I fail them my Father will throw me into Azkaban” Jason rushes out, barely stopping for breath, staring down into Leo’s wide, blinking eyes as he processes. 

Then, like the sun breaking through clouds, a grin rushes across his face. 

“The _great_ Jason Grace wants _me,_ a poor little Slytherin shut-away, to tutor him in _Potions?”_

Jason rolled his eyes at Leo’s comically high voice and scandalised expression, his eyes wide and shocked. “Yes, I do. Please, Leo? I really need this and you’re amazing at Potions. And Charms. And Transfiguration. And Arthimacy. And alchemy, apparently? Wow, I heard that was-”

“Okay! I’ll do it!” Leo exclaimed, his head looking down at his lap. Jason furrowed his brow, perplexed. Why was he suddenly _shy?_ Leo Valdez hasn’t been _shy_ a day in his life. “Just….rein in the compliments, buddy”. 

Jason could see the tips of Leo’s elfish ears through his thick, dark curls and bent head. 

They were _scarlet._

Jason grinned. Were compliments the great downfall of Leo Valdez?

“Also,” Leo said, coughing into his fist and raising his head to look Jason in the eyes again. “I don’t want money. My dad’s loaded, your dad is loaded, what’s the point? Currency is over-rated and boring”. 

_What._

“Then what do you want?” he asked, suspicious, what else could he possibly want from him?. Jason feared the worse. 

Leo shrugged, his eyes guarded suddenly. “I’ll see once we’re finished with this. But whatever I decide I want my payment in, it better be in full” he threatened, eyes narrowed. 

Jason chuckled, unexpectantly. “Sure, of course. So, when do we start? We’re what….half-way through the first term? So I'd prefer if we started as soon as possible”

Leo bobbed his head, curls bouncing with the movement. “Yeah, sure man. I’m free all Saturday’s? So, here? 10 a.m? Until the N.E.W.Ts”

Jason could do that. Jason thinks it’s a great idea to be tutored by his childhood crush every Saturday until he gets an aneurysm. He’ll have to deal with Leo Valdez in those tight, revealing muggles clothes, bathed in the morning sun, surrounded by books and smelling of those muggle death-sticks and sandalwood and those sugary American sweets he loves. 

Brilliant. Great. From November to June. Alone. In a library. With the gorgeous, intelligent Leo Valdez while Jason stumbles over basic Potions. 

Bloody hell, at least Leo dislikes him so much that he won’t have to worry about Leo liking him any _less._

  


* * *

  


God, Leo is so fucked. 

Why the fuck did he agree to tutor _Jason Grace_ of all people? They aren’t even _friends._ As far as Leo knows, Jason still sees him as an awkward, annoying nerd, which while he still is all of those things, he’s _cool_ now. Well, he is to himself and, like, some of the underclassmen.

He’s probably not _cool_ to Jason Grace. Prefect. A Gryffindor golden-boy. Brilliant Chaser. 

Also really hot. Like, really attractive. As in, an Adonis. Body of a Greek marble statue. So handsome. Chiselled cheeks, big blue eyes behind dorky glasses, full lips, soft blond hair, smooth, unblemished skin, broad shoulders, huge hands, sculpted thighs, a _perfect_ ass-

Ahem.

He….didn’t just think those things. He didn’t. Nope. Leo? Think dirty thoughts about _Jason Grace?_ He would _never._ Oh whose he kidding he’s been thinking about Jason Grace’s ass since 4th year. 

“Just tell him no if it’s worrying you that much,” Piper says as they bask in the warmth of the common room fire. “What’s he going to do if you turn him down? Murder you? It’s Jason we’re talking about here. The worst he can do is be a bit sad about it”. 

Leo groans, throwing his head back against the carpeted floor. “And if he’s sad _I’ll_ be sad because _I’ll_ feel bad and I don’t wanna be sad about shit”. 

He can hear Piper rolling her eyes from where he’s lying. “Leo. For the _seven_ years that I’ve known you, the only people you’ve ever felt sorry for were; yourself, Longbottom and Festus, so forgive me for catching a whiff of dog shite, Valdez” she said, making a lot of sense which just made him angry. He’s felt sorry for lots of people. So many people. 

“Does amusement mixed with pity count?”

“No.”

“Oh.”

Piper made some kind of pained grumbling noise as she tipped herself over to lay beside him. There are only a few people in the common room. Him, Piper, Connor and Chris Rodriguez. Connor is about as interested in Leo’s life as he is in Divination and Chris is passed out in an armchair. Well, Connor _was_ interested in Leo’s life for an approximation of a month and a week back in 6th year because Leo and Travis got together for that amount of time, but that was mostly fueled by trauma and feeling like their options were spread thin in terms of gay boys that would date them. But now, they’re simply friends. With benefits. Because Leo is emotionally inept and Travis needs to let off steam when he breaks up with Malcolm Pace for the 900th fucking time. 

“You know, having a crush on Jason isn’t a new thing for you, Leo”

Leo wants to punch Piper. In the mouth. So badly. “I _know,”_ he stresses, banging his head against the carpet, “but it’s so inconvenient, man. Like, I know he’s hot and kind and cool but that doesn’t make him _special._ Why am I so hooked on this one dude?”

Piper snorted, the sound mixing with the faint crackling of the emerald fire. “Cause he’s Jason Grace. The kryptonite to weird 14-year-old queer brown kids in the Slytherin house, apparently,” she snorts out, amusement lacing her voice like arsenic lacing a cupcake. Ah, the infamous third year, when Piper thought Jason was the cat’s pyjamas for a year straight, until Ramríez-Arellano, captain of the Gryffindor quidditch team, started popping up and looking like a whole badass 24/7, initiating Piper’s _‘hot-girl-who-could-love-me-and-push-me-up-against-a-wall-at-the-same-time_ ’ senses.

Leo rolls on top of Piper, using her body to pillow his. It’s only fair. She’s soft and warm and smells like ginger and dirt. 

“ _Leo-fuck-”_ she wheezes out as Leo presses all the air out of her lungs with his body. He shifts around until he’s comfortable on-top of her and she’s able to breathe again, her dark hair mixing with his as he tucked his head into the crook of her neck, their eyes meeting. Piper’s eyes were brown, just like Leo’s, except _her’s,_ had a whiskey tint to them, like someone coated her eyeballs with a faint sheen of firewhiskey. Their legs were tangled, her arms around his back while he spread his out across the soft carpet. 

“You should just snog him and get the emotions out of the way”

Leo snorted, a laugh catching in his throat as a smile broke across his face. “I thought Veela’s were good at this romance stuff?”

Her knee crashed against his thigh and he buried the whimper that escaped from his chest. “Firstly, _half-_ Veela. Secondly, we’re pretty, not fucking omniscient. Now, shut up and try to sleep. Also, don’t be a pussy and tutor Jason.”

“Here? Right in the common room? With our clothes on? You do realise that those rumours about us are still around, no matter how much you make out with Ramírez-Arellano at dinner. By the way, okay, fine I’ll do it, but it doesn't mean I’ll be happy about it”

“Sleep. I know you’ve been having trouble lately. Now, close your gob and don’t let the bed bugs bite”

Leo had a terrible habit of following Piper McLean’s orders to a T. Must’ve been the pretty face. 

  


* * *

  


After a week of classes, the first tutoring session comes around. And the next and the next and Jason thinks they might be friends, considering how he waves to Jason in the hall and smiles, like it’s normal. 

They talk. Weirdly enough. 

They talk about school and gossip when Leo needs to vent. They talk about quidditch, especially after Slytherin only barely scrapes by beating Ravenclaw, even with Leo’s amazing seeker abilities. 

(“ _Calm down, Grace, I’m not exactly Harry fucking Potter”_

_“Yes, I know. You’re much better. If you hadn't gotten the snitch, Slytherin would’ve lost, and you have to admit, you’re brilliant on a broom”_

_“Flattery will get you everywhere, Superman. Now, onto the latter half of Felix Felicis-”_

_“Who’s Superman?”)_

Weekends in the Library become...common. Every Saturday, spent in the Library with a Slytherin outcast, learning potions and even getting some help on his Charm’s homework when possible. They work together, getting a weird kind of domestic harmony. Like when Leo can’t reach the book he wants and Jason has to get it for him. It’s…. ~~(adorable~~ ) nice. 

Leo even lets him in on his projects. He’s an inventor, a brilliant one in Jason’s mind. Some of the contraptions are obviously more muggle than Magical, but Jason lets him ramble on about chemistry and physics and machines to his heart's content. Leo’s face gets….sunny, when he gets passionate, as if there’s a star under his skin and shinning outwards. His eyes _burn_ with it. It’s a wonderful reprieve from his half-grin half-smirk look, the one he gets when he’s rilling Jason up, or the visible annoyance when Jason can’t grasp a simple instruction. 

They meet in the Library, in Leo’s unofficial official spot, hidden in a spot with few shadows and lots of natural light, giving the place an ethereal, suspended-in-honey feeling. 

“Who’d you have to kill to get this spot?” he whispers, one day, a week before they break-up for Christmas, a faint smile tugging at his lips as he gazes around and Leo sets up his desk. 

“Oh, I had to duel Hermoine Granger for it back in second year. I’m pretty sure she was 2 spells away from Avada Kadevra-ing me into dust before I beat her,” he says, at a normal volume, with breathless carelessness. 

Jason is terrified that he can’t really tell if Leo’s lying or not. It seems like something Leo would do, but _Hermoine Granger?_ Probably Unlikely. 

Probably. 

He laughs regardless, eyes bright.

“Well, come on in, sonny boy,” Leo says, falling into some kind of old, grouchy American accent at the end, even thicker and nasally than his own. Jason sits at the desk as Leo pulls open some books and begins again. Leo’s apparently from a State in America called Texas, and he does an impression of an old Texas man quite a lot. 

It’s something small, easy enough, and then onto the potions, that they hadn’t had time to go over last week and ways to make sure you didn’t bugger it all up. Things about mixing a specific way and temperatures and he shoves so much into Jason’s head he thinks it might explode. 

“How do you even remember half of this?” Jason groans, letting his head bang against the wood desk, loud in the quiet of the Library. It’s a common occurrence, the head banging and the groaning, so Pince says nothing.

Leo laughed. It was a nice laugh. Deep and warm, like a warm bath or soil that’s sun-kissed. “Don’t worry if you don’t get it all right away, man. We have until, what? Easter, to do this. You’ll be fine and your dreams of becoming the only Auror in the Country who keeps his wand shoved up his ass will be safe. Anyways, you’ve done really good in the past few weeks”

Was….was that meant to be comforting or belittling? The first half was definitely meant to be nice, but the second part was Leo telling him he thought he was wound up. Leo would call it ‘whiplash’. 

“I don’t have a stick up my arse. I just don’t like breaking the law. It’s not smart” he frowned, mouth pursed. He wasn’t a _killjoy_ like people said. He just wasn’t an idiot. 

“Then prove it. Prove to me you don’t have a stick up your ass” Leo challenged, getting into Jason’s personal space, his face uncomfortably close as his dark eyes challenged him. For a moment, neither boy moved, unhappy to back down from the challenge. Jason could see Leo’s faint freckles on his cheeks, shades darker than the rest of his skin. He could see his long, dark eyelashes and his pink tongue, that kept wetting his lips which was driving Jason to _madness._

And Jason couldn’t believe he was asking this, but-

“How?”

Leo gri- no, smirked. That was a Slytherin-approved smirk, filled with sharp edges and hidden promises. Why that made his skin cold and his face warm was a valid question.

“Next weekend. After our study session. Come in muggle clothes and meet at the astronomy tower,” Leo whispered, his face so close that it might as well have been his normal speaking voice, save for the harshness of his voice. 

Jason was bemused, to say the least. “But why? How would that-”

Leo placed a finger against Jason’s lips. 

The last time Jason felt like _this_ he was appriating for the first time. 

“Hush now, young padawan. Prove to me that you’re not _bore-ing~”_ he drawled, his breath sweet over Jason’s face. The drawl accentuated his accent, his voice warm and deep. Jason should say no. Leo’s group of friends, which was Piper McLean, Travis Stoll, Rachel Dare and Nico di Angelo were good people. Really good people. But together they probably had more detentions than their entire year put together. From Pranks to fights to sneaking out, they were ‘bad apples’ in his Father’s word. Especially people like Nico and Rachel, who both came from long, illustrious family lines. 

He imagined what his Father would say-

“C’mon, chico. Live a little,” Leo pleaded, his eyes dancing with mirth, his smile wicked and Merlin-

He imagined what _Thalia_ would say. 

“Fine. Okay. But if I get expelled because of this I will do unspeakable things to you,” he huffed, crossing his arms. He was not acting like a petulant child. He was simply warning Leo that he did not want to lose his education. 

Leo snorted, his laugh ending in a slight wheeze. “Oh, Jason, you can _unspeakable_ things to me any day”

It was like Jason’s brain was a train. A normal, happy, train that chugged along happily. But then Leo Valdez said that to him, his voice wheezy and breathless with laughter, as his eyes burned with a cheerful fire and his lips pulled up into a smile. And the train promptly drove itself at high-speeds into a brick wall. 

“Uh-um-” he stuttered, his brain stumbling over the most basic action of stringing a sentence together, his face burning, blue eyes wide. He needed to do something. He couldn’t just stare at Leo like an idiot god he’s so _stupid._ Leo is also blushing, face tinted with scarlet and eyes comically wide and just as seemingly dumbfounded. Well, at least they’re both in the same carriage. “I-uh- need to go-” Leo mumbled, standing up suddenly, nearly knocking back his chair as he grabs his bag, rushing out of the Library, head down. 

“Leo- wait, what?!” he calls out, nearly falling over his chair in an attempt to chase him, but he’s gone as if he was never here at all, like smoke out a moving window. 

And Jason is left in a darkening Library, with a potions book, an angry Pince, an invitation to something that will most definitely get him killed (or worse, _expelled),_ Leo’s sketchbook and much more confused than he was this morning. 

* * *

  
  


Leo needs to let off some _steam._

No, not that kind. Anyways, Travis is back with Pace and the next person he’d go to would be Octavian, but he’s reserved for purely hate-fucking when Slytherin loses a match or when Leo is _really really_ drunk or when Leo is just in the general mood to do a bit of self-destructive behaviour. Because nothing says ‘ _yes I’m coping well with Charlie’s death’_ than hate-fucking the Slytherin Prefect. 

So, the next thing to do is to run out into the forbidden forest. In the middle of December. Leo swears he’s a genius. 

After that incident. In the Library. Leo needed to be beside someone who wouldn’t mind Leo ranting at them for hours and would hug and hold Leo because Leo is stupid. _El stupido_. _Idiota_.

Sadly, Piper is in Hogsmead. He runs, as stealthily as he can, into the Forest, wearing his normal shirt and jeans, paired with a woolly, black hooded cloak as protection from the lightly falling snow. The forest is dense, the compact dirt cold beneath his boots as he carefully picks his way over tree roots and rocks, his breath coming out in little puffs of white smoke. 

It starts to get dark without the faint shimmer of the winter clouds, the foliage too thick. At this point, a normal wizard or witch would cast a _Lumos_ to illuminate their path. 

Leo isn’t normal. 

When he was born, his mamá was ecstatic. Yeah, most moms usually were, but his mom was happy for a whole ‘nother reason. You see, the imaginary person in Leo’s head, Leo’s family was _old._ And he wasn’t talking about his Dad’s whole Sacred 28 business, no, he was talking about the Valdez Family. One of the oldest Wizarding families in Mexico and Southern North America. And they were known for their talent with Fire. Anything to do with Fire, you went to the Valdez Family. 

Because no other Family had Phoenix blood in them. 

There were family legends, obviously, of how they intermixed. There were tales of deals with old gods and of the mortal forms of phoenixes or genetic manipulation. Leo’s favourite was that an old ancestor helped save an old Phoenix, and in return, the Phoenix granted him a wish, and the man wished to become just like the Phoenix, and the Great Bird granted him it and the wish carried on through the generations. 

And Leo was the first baby born in generations with the power to manipulate flame, one of the few remaining abilities left. His mamá called him her _Sol._

Leo pushed the fire into his outstretched palm, watching the flames crawl up from his palm and into the air, white and red and orange and yellow mixing together, throwing sparks into the air. For the first couple of years of his life, he was happy. His mamá was preparing him for Ilvermorny, telling him all about the school and he spent most of his days in the balmy heat of Houston at the Family House, with his Tío’s and Tía’s and abeula and abeulo and his cousins and mamá. 

He was happy. And then he wasn’t. Then he was in England with a Father he didn’t know and strange new people in _Hogwarts_ and he was accepted by people like Draco Malfoy because of his blood purity, but 10-year-old Leo was angry and the term ‘pure-blood’ made him want to scream because he’s a _Valdez_ . Descendent of a _Phoenix_ . He shouldn’t have to bow and curtsy to people whose blood is _rotten_ with purity-

And then Leo was trapped in a Hogwarts run by purists and if they found out that his blood was ‘dirty’ he would be killed. Like how they almost killed Piper before she ran. The darkness is closing in, but it’s not unwelcoming. Here, he’s far away from Hogwarts and it’s halls lined with memories and pretty blond boys with big blue eyes. 

Leo is a fool for thinking-

Just thinking. 

He had flirted with him. Unintentionally. But he didn’t think Jason would react like that. Confused and uncomfortable in Leo’s presence, like Leo was something to be fearful of. He should have never assumed anything about Jason Grace. Personality wise or sexuality-wise. 

He’s never really had to deal with out-right homophobia. Yes, there’s the stupid, underhanded comments from people, but no outright hatred or fear. His Dad never cared. Nyssa never cared, Harley never cared, all of his siblings didn’t care who Leo dragged into his bed-

Well, they cared about the bed bit. He still remembers the Howler he got from Nyssa when she heard about him and Travis Stoll. How she even _heard_ about him and Travis was still a mystery, but he’s been hedging bets on Tanaka since it happened. 

Fucking bitch. 

The forest is getting slowly denser, the snow thick and dark and he can see flashing eyes in-between the trees, but most creatures in here don’t bother him, in a mixture of recognising him as having mixed-blood and mostly due to the fact that they don’t want to get on Festus’ bad side. 

Soon, he’s so deep in the forest that he can’t see a way out, but if worse comes to worst, he’ll just die. And, after about an hours trek, he comes to a large clearing. Like, a huge clearing, that has a faint smattering of snow on it. It’s familiar and great and there he is. His Festus, so he extinguishes his flame. No need for that anymore. 

Now, if you asked Leo what Festus was and you weren’t Piper McLean or Nico Di Angelo or Rachel Dare, he’d cheerfully tell you Festus is his pet iguana, back at home. Festus is not an iguana- well, he kinda looks like one. If iguanas were 30ft long, 11 and a half ft tall, as black as oil and could breathe fire. 

Festus slowly walks into the clearing, emerging from the night like a shadow, his brilliant purple eyes blinking in the night. 

“Hey, buddy,” he says, suddenly tired and he walks forward, eyes sagging. Festus lets out a contented rumble, and Leo can see the satisfaction on his face as his tail wags. Side to side, like a pendulum. Leo firmly believes you haven't seen anything until you’ve seen a Hebridean Black wag his tail like a puppy. 

He collapses against Festus lowered neck, smashing his face against the rough, hard scales like it’s the best blanket he’s ever known. Festus drops onto his stomach, folding his legs underneath him and Leo wraps his arms around his neck. His hands don’t touch, Festus being as big as he is, but the blazing warmth he gives off is enough to warm Leo to the core. 

The dragon curls his head and neck around Leo, his warm scales pressed to Leo’s back. 

Leo met Festus back in second year after he tried to run away again. He wandered out into the Forest, 12 and alone and absolutely terrified. He kept walking, deeper and deeper into the forest until he stumbled on a dragon. Black as night and looking like it went through a meat grinder. 

The Dragon didn’t mind Leo as much as it should have. Maybe he was too injured to know how to react, or maybe he recognised another creature of fire, just like him. 

He fixed him, just like how his mamá fixed machines. He looked through every book, restricted or not, asked Hagrid enough questions to sound like Leo was planning on running off to Romania and spent countless hours out in the Forest, healing a dying dragon. 

He never figured out how Festus got that injured. But he didn’t have the resources to look and once Festus got better, he just...did not leave. Yeah, he left to eat and fly and stretch his wings, but he always came back, to the same spot where Leo first found him. And Leo kept coming back, until meeting with Festus was just another part of his life. 

Festus growls, in that tone of voice which means he’s asking how Leo is. Leo internally knows he shouldn’t know what a Dragon is asking of him, but it just seems so natural that Leo doesn’t question it. And Festus _seems_ to understand him, so it would be rude not to answer. “I’m fine” he mumbles into Festus neck, and the old dragon growls harder, banging his head against Leo’s back, calling bullshit. 

“Just…..boy problems, I guess. You know the classic ‘ _I liked this guy but it turns out he doesn't like guys and now I feel like a weird idiot’”_ he breathes, leaning all his body weight onto the dragon. Festus snorts, hot air blowing through his nostrils, like he’s preparing to fight Jason. 

Leo laughs into his scales. “You don’t need to fight him Festus. It’s okay. It’ll pass”. 

Festus seems displeased with that, but relents and starts moving into a curled up position. “Hey, Festus, what did I say-” he starts to lecture because he is not doing _this_ again-

Sadly Leo weighs 125 sopping wet and is an optimistic 5’7, so he’s nothing for a dragon that weights a healthy 6 tonnes. So he can’t do much when Festus gently picks him up by his cloak hood, careful not to tear the stitching with his teeth. “Festus-” he groans as the Dragon curls into a ball and places Leo between his paws, sheltering Leo under his head and bringing him close to his breast. 

It’s nice. And warm enough that Leo can actually feel it. “Festus, you know I can’t stay,” he placates, his voice mournful. If he could, Festus would sleep in the Slytherin Dungeons with him, but that would probably be against the Law. 

Festus growls, a clear ‘ _shut the fuck up, kid’_ and huffs. 

“Fine. But not for long. I have to get back before sunrise”

Festus shifts and Leo hears the flap of his wings in the warm quiet of the Forest. 

“....Okay. But if we’re caught flying into Hogwarts I’m selling you to Ollivanders”

Festus snorts, as close to a laugh as he can get and curls up around Leo. 

Maybe Leo has a crush on a hot straight guy and he knows the feelings will never be reciprocated, but do you know what else he has?.

A _motherfucking_ Dragon. 

  
  


* * *

The astronomy tower is quiet. 

It’s a morbid spot to be, considering things. Especially in the dead of night. Wear muggle clothing. They're not his clothes, not really. They’re Percy’s, his cousin Annabeth’s Hufflepuff boyfriend and his best friend (after Reyna of course). He grew up muggle, considering he’s a half-blood with a muggle mother, so he knows Things. 

He’s wearing a Jacket. A black one made of leather which is quite ingenious of the Muggles. It’s very nice and Percy said if Jason ruined it he’d ‘ _bollocks him to death with a blunt object_ ’ in that thick Irish accent of his. 

He’s also wearing Jeans. They’re blue and feel quite strange against his skin. There are no rips, unlike Leo’s and they’re not quite as tight. His shirt, however, is another story altogether. It’s white, with short sleeves and it practically sticks to his skin. Jason was mortified to go out in it, but his dorm-mates and Annabeth forced him into it. She had apparently talked to the seer in Ravenclaw, Rachel Dare, and she had said that if he wore the shirt only good things would come of it. 

So, here he is, cold, alone and weary. 

“Well, well, look who decided to show up,” 

Jason spins to face Leo Valdez and a group of People who’ve materialised behind him. He’s grinning lazily, eyes dark and amused, like life is a game and he knows how to cheat. 

“Leo, uh, hello, I-uh” he stumbles out. Merlin, did Leo even want him here? Maybe he was only joking about inviting him. But surely Leo would never be that malicious. But what if he was?. Jason was never the best on picking up social cues. He feels quite dizzy, all of a sudden

Leo’s frowning. Why is Leo frowning?

“Hey, man, are you okay? You look terrible?”

“Uh, yes, I’m fine. Perfect,” he says, smiling through the sudden onslaught of anxiety. He should’ve just stayed in the _dorm-_

“Jay-bird! Come here and stop acting like the world’s feckin’ endin’!” Percy exclaims and Jason has never been happier to see him in his entire life. 

“Percy! Never knew you were coming!” he says, voice lighter, headache subsiding. Percy chuckles and loops an arm around Leo’s skinny shoulder’s. 

“Neither did I until last night, when this little fecker offered me and Wise-girl an invitation”

Leo grins up at Percy and Jason feels a tug in his stomach. He shouldn’t feel jealous of Percy just because he’s _hugging_ Leo. That’s irrational. And Idiotic. Leo smiles up at Percy, eyes glinting in the night, “And that invitation can just as easily be revoked, Jackson, if you call me little ever again”. 

The group laughs, and so does Jason, surprisingly enough. He can see some of his friends, like Reyna, who’s wrapped around Piper McLean and both Annabeth and Percy. He can also see Nico and Rachel.

“So, where are we going….” he ventures, rolling back onto his heels, hands shoved awkwardly into his pockets. 

The entire group blinks dumbly at him. 

And one by one, their gazes turned to Leo. “Valdez, why the _fuck_ didn’t you tell him where we were going?” Nico asks, incredulously, dark eyes narrowed at Leo. 

Leo’s panicking now, obviously frightened, “Look, it never came up in conversation, but he’s here so we should just _all_ move on with our lives-”

“Leo, you dumbass-”

“What do you mean ‘ _it never came up-’”_

“Bloody Merlin, how did you get him to come without an entire detailed plan-”

Leo looked overwhelmed, and Jason’s heart did a weird little sad dance. “Hey!” he shouted over the voices, “Hey! It’s fine. Just tell me where we’re going”. 

They all stopped and turned back to Jason. 

“London. We’re going to London”

Jason blinked. Jason felt like this was all a very well-planned joke. But no-one laughed. 

“Oh Merlin you’re serious”

Leo rolled his eyes, muttering something in Spanish as he walked over to the edge of the tower and he fished around in the wall for something, long, clever fingers dancing over the stone. 

London. 

London. 

“ _London”_

Percy clapped his shoulder. “Hold your horses, Jason, before you start trying to scrap with Leo, remember that this isn’t their first go of it” he soothed, accent thick and green eyes placating. 

Jason gaped, eyes blown, “Go of _what?_ How are we getting there? We can’t just apparate out of Hogwarts and I highly doubt there’s any other method of transportation-”

“Got it!” Leo exclaimed, to the groans of relief from the others, who were all shivering in their thin clothes. Piper was wearing a white lacy tank top, covered by a leather jacket several sizes too big for her and a short jean-skirt, while Reyna was wearing a loose colourfully patterned button-up tucked into high-waisted jeans. Percy was wearing a green t-shirt with the words Greenpeace across it and jeans similar to Reyna’s. Annabeth was wearing…...he believed they were called dungarees? And underneath, a plain woolly jumper. 

Rachel was wearing something a bit similar to Annabeth, actually, except hers was covered in paint and the only thing she was wearing underneath it was a top that only went just past her ribs and no higher than her collar-bones. 

Jason feared for her health immensely. She was going to catch all kinds of illnesses out like that in _December-_

Nico, as per usual, wore nothing but black. A loose black tank top, black jeans with a chain (???) in them and enough silver jewellery to keep a werewolf at bay for a few centuries. Also. His make-up. Instead of the preciseness of Rachel’s or Annabeth’s or even _Percy’s,_ his make-up consisted of him making himself look like a raccoon with eyeliner. 

Leo, however, stole the show. As per usual. 

High-waisted black jeans, dishevelled and ripped to the point of some bits of the denim flapping about in the breeze, revealing lots and _lots_ of dark skin, on his knees and his thighs-

His shirt was white, making his dark skin even darker, like the bark of tree hidden deep in the Forbidden Forest, with thick red stripes running across it. In similar fashion to Percy, he had the t-shirt tucked in. In a less similar fashion, he looked gorgeous. He even had make-up done, which was straddling the line between Rachel’s art and Nico’s Raccoon, with big eyeliner, but soft, perfect golden eyeshadow and he had enough gold in his ears to invest in a vault in Gringotts. 

And Leo had revealed a-

A boot. 

A _portkey._

In Hogwarts. 

“This is the most illegal thing I’ve ever done,” he confessed to the quiet group, shattering the silence, causing scattered chuckles and laughs. This is so illegal. This was breaking the law, plain and simple but Jason. 

Didn’t care. 

Not when he was surrounded by the warmth of his friends and mirth was clear in the crisp Winter air. He thought, momentarily, of what his Father would think, or what Helen would think. 

Then he thought about what Thalia would think if she wasn’t busy being a cool Auror Woman, hunting Dark Wizards and being a Badass. 

She’d probably tell him to take the wand out of his arse and live a bit. 

“Well, I’m cold as hell and I want to get drunk, so, everyone crowd around before someone comes to investigate the noise,” Piper said, eyes hungry as the crowd pushed together, smashing him and Leo together. 

His body was warm beside him, almost _too_ warm to be comfortable, but being that close to Leo was sending his body into fits so he chalked it up to his hormones and emotions than Leo being strangely warm. 

And, they gripped the boot-shoe, more like it, and-

Someone hooked a knife under Jason’s nose and naval and _pulled-_

The world spun and heaved and mixed and colours flew everywhere and Jason was turning inside out-

And he was stumbling against a cold brick wall, the stench of a city and rubbish assaulting his senses. 

He could faintly hear someone heaving up their dinner and another few people groaning. 

“Fuckin’...hate portkeying…” he heard Nico grumble, his gravelly voice strained. The wall Jason was leaning against was nice. A very nice, cold wall. He shut his eyes, letting his other senses handle the job of existence. The wall, the very great wall, was rough against his forehead and cheek, but cold and wet with fresh rain. 

“Up..and at..’em, lads-” Percy strained out, but sounding better than Jason felt. Someone made an angry, sick-sounding groan and Jason would agree if he wasn’t too busy dying. Merlin, could someone just _kill_ him-

“Jason. C’mon”

Leo was very close. So close. Just like the Library, except this time, Leo was stretched over Jason’s back, his head on Jason’s shoulder and his mouth _very very_ close to Jason’s ear, hot breath ghosting over his pale skin. Jason shoves down his nausea, just like he does with most of his emotions, and opens his eyes to the dark, wet ground of a London side-street, illuminated only by the glow of street lamps and buzzing neon signs. 

He turns to face the rest of the group, who are partnering up slowly. Percy and Annabeth, Piper and Reyna, and Nico with Rachel, purely due to the fact that neither Solace or Tanaka is here. Leo has his back to Jason now, so Jason is looking down onto Leo’s soft burst of dark curls. He feels hypnotised, or under an extremely strong potion. “Okay, my dudes, stay together with your buddy and meet here once you start to see the Sun. If you decide to risk staying in London for the night, send someone a Patronus message or I’ll hex you into next week. If you get into trouble, Patronus message someone,” Leo lists off, like he’s done this too many times, judging by Piper and Nico’s expressions, “And remember folks,” he says, seriousness leaking out of his tone to be replaced by that well-known mischief, “If you remember this tomorrow, you’re doing it wrong”

And with that, they separate. 

* * *

  


For the first couple of clubs, the ones they manage to actually get into, Percy and Annabeth and Rach and Neeks stay with them. Then Rach and Nico get fucking plastered and wander off. Leo’s not worried. They’ve done this enough times that he knows that they’ll be smart. 

Then Percy gets several shots of something colourful and blue into him and he decides that he and Annabeth must have some ice cream or he’ll start an uproar. So, they wander off into the hot club. Annabeth is still pretty sober, so he’s not too worried, and Percy was raised muggle, so here’s to hoping they don’t get arrested. 

Then it’s just him and Jason. 

It’s…..really nice. The two of them, elbows and arms touching as they race each other for drinks, listening to the upbeat muggle music from this fine millennium year, the Great Year 2000, surrounded by body heat and _cheer._

“Another!” Jason calls out, face ruddy and his smile permanent, showing off his white canines. The bartender, a young woman with puffy black hair, slides over and takes Jason’s money and gives him another shot. Which Leo steals, a contented sigh rolling over him as the vodka rushes down his throat. “Fuck, that’s the good shit,” he groans, leaning his light head on Jason’s shoulder, the leather pleasant against his burning forehead. 

His body feels light. Everything feels _light._ Like he’s built from bird bones and feathers, as if at any moment, Leo could take flight. 

It’s wonderful. 

Jason is wonderful. 

This club is boring. He tells Jason this. Jason laughs, that beautiful gorgeous laugh of his, all light and warm that devolves into cute giggles, and he wraps his arm around Leo's waist when he stumbles away from the bar and towards the nightclub exit

“Leo! H-hold on, on a sec-” Jason slurs, eyes bright as he and Leo stumble down the street, hands wrapped haphazardly around each other. Leo stills as Jason catches his breath. They’re somewhere in SoHo, and the wet cobblestones all look the same in this city, but all the clubs look brilliant and different and _bright._ Just like Leo. 

Leo stands still, an impressive task for him, and waits patiently, looking up at Jason, an arm slung around Jason’s waits to keep him up. 

And then, in the middle of a street in Soho, Jason hugs Leo. 

Leo thinks this is brilliant. Because it is. Because Jason smells like old library books and his cologne and earth. Leo buries his head into Jason’s shoulder, raising himself up on his tippy-toes to reach while Jason tucks his head into the crook of Leo’s neck, his face warm against Leo’s skin, breathe damp. 

“I’m tired of clubs,” Jason mumbles, nuzzling his head into Leo’s neck and Leo isn’t hesitant to agree. The clubs seem too much for Leo tonight, too many people with too many noises. 

On other nights like this, Leo would simply buy the strongest joint he could find and smoke it, but he wants to spend time with Jason and he can’t do that _high_. 

“Lezzo back to Hog-Hogwarts,” he slurs into the night, raising his head from Jason’s shoulder. He can feel Jason nod against his neck, his arms tightening around his waist regardless and Leo can’t hold back the fond laughter. “Gez off me you big ol’ lug” he laughs while Jason pulls away and Leo stands back onto his heels. Jason looks gorgeous. His eyes are a nighttime blue behind his glasses, while his blond hair is dishevelled falling into his eyes. Jason’s pale skin is scarlet in places, like his cheeks and his neck and his lips-

“Lez go see the Hogwash,” Jason says resolutely, voice serious and calm and Leo falls into _hysterics._

“Ho-Hog- _hahahaa!”_ he wheezes out, bent in half. Hogwash! That’s brilliant! Merlin, it’s all so brilliant! Just like Jason!. 

Leo pulls himself back in and straightens up to look Jason in the eyes. “Hogwash,” he says, with a hard resolution which Jason parrots, like it’s some kind of secret spell. 

“Hogwash”

They stumble back together to the portkey and at some point, someone grabbed someone's hand and they ended up walking back together, hand in hand. Jason’s hand is big, but soft, while Leo’s is smaller and rougher. 

They lace their fingers together and dance on the slippery cobblestones, under the dark clouds and yellow street lights, singing off-tune Weird Sister songs and school chants, cheeks ruddy and eyes wild. 

Leo feels free, as if he’s shed his body and taken flight to the dark, starless sky of London. 

They stumble into the alley, oblivious to stares and judging glances because Leo’s cheeks hurt from smiling and his stomach cramps from the laughter. “Gotta send Pipes a message,” he says, leaning against the wet brick wall. 

Jason takes this as an invitation to lay on top of him, tucking his head back into its usual spot, but’s awkward because Leo’s too lazy to reach up. “You’re so _small,”_ Jason whispered in wonderment like it was a precious secret, his body thrumming with joy. Leo ‘hmmm’ed as he reached into his black boots and pulled out his wand, checking around for muggles-

Jason, apparently, took his silence for an invitation and _hoisted_ Leo up by the back of his thighs and Leo had no choice but to wrap his legs around Jason’s _waist._ Jason, apparently pleased, went back to burying himself in Leo’s neck, his hands burning themselves into Leo’s thighs. 

And Leo was left there, wand raised like he was going to hex Jason and his face turning several different shades of red. Merlin, this boy would be the death of him. He awkwardly cleared his throat and prepared to cast the spell. Jason shifted slightly and when Leo looked down, he saw that Jason had turned his head to watch Leo, electric-blue eyes watching like a hawk. Leo shimmed, acutely aware he was being watched. 

He thought of happiness. He thought of hazy mornings with mamá and helping Harley onto his broom and watching Nyssa fall in love. He thought of nights where he had Piper would talk for hours in the common room in hushed voices. He thought of Nico’s deadpan jokes and Rachel’s hugs. 

He thought of Charlie’s words of encouragement. He thought of Sammy ruffling his hair every time he got a question right in his potion’s homework. 

He thought of Jason Grace, smiling down at him like Leo held life in his hands-

“ _Expecto Patronum..._ ” 

Out of his wand burst a Dragon, created from white light and hope. “Go tell Piper McLean that I’m going back to Hogwarts with Jason,” he whispered, and his Dragon spread its wings and dematerialised, heading to Piper in a thin, barely visible white light. 

“Dragons are rare”

“I know” 

_(his mother’s Patronus was a phoenix)_

  


* * *

  


The astronomy tower was quiet and soft, in the dead of night as they stumbled out of the portkey and onto the stone floor, breathless and grinning. 

“God, I never want this night to _end”_ Jason exclaimed softly, his body heavy and warm, like he’s stepped into a hot bath. Leo is lying beside him, just as breathless as his chest heaves, his skin ruddy in places, his dark curls long and wild about his head, like a halo. 

Leo sighed, a happy content sigh and he turned to face Jason fully, both boys lying on their side, their respective hands used to pillow their head from the hard floor. Jason was happy to simply lay there. Content to bask in his warm drunkness with Leo until the sun rose. 

“Hey,” Leo began, breaking the silence with his hushed voice, “I’m really glad you came with us tonight. I don’t think I would’ve had as much fun without you there”. His voice was soft, tentative, laced with uncertainty.

Jason shuffled forward until they were close again, like this was their natural state, to always breathe the same air as the other. “And thank you for inviting me. And pulling the stick out of my arse” he said, voice laced with mirth. 

Leo gaped at him, mouth stuck between hanging open and grinning. Then, he threw his head back and _laughed._ “Fuck! You finally admitted it!”.

“Yes. I did.” 

They talked a lot. Until the sun started to rise and they were dragged unconscious back to their rooms. They talked about moms and how Jason wished she cared enough about him to stop drinking. Leo talked about how great his mom was. Never said how she died. 

They talked about annoying siblings. They talked about what The War took from them. They talked about family expectation. 

They talked and the entire time, Jason fantasized what it would be like to kiss Leo Valdez. 

* * *

Leo is standing in front of him. In the Library. Wearing a cloak and muggle clothing because today is the day they sperate for Christmas. 

Leo did offer for Jason to come home with him but knows Thalia will be home this Christmas and he wants to get her advice on how to ask Leo out without sounding like a fool. He wants to see his sisters, Leslie and Thalia and his brother Lester. He wants to know how long his mom has left. He wants to see Father’s and Helen’s new baby, Helena. 

“So, I’ve decided on what I want my payment to be,” Leo declares like Jason has any idea what that means. He thinks and thinks but he keeps coming up empty-

“The tutoring. Potions? Me being the only reason you’ll pass your Potion N.E.W.Ts-”

Jason’s eyes go as wide as saucers. “Right! Yes! That! What did you decide on?”

At this, Leo shifts, casting his eyes downward as his fingers play with a frayed edge of his cloak. Jason is immediately on edge. Something is wrong. Leo is never this shy. Thousands of possibilities spring to mind. Is Leo in trouble? Does he need help-

Leo looks up suddenly, the dark brown of his eyes clashing with Jason’s blue as he searches his eyes for _something._ He feels like he’s being peeled back, layer by layer, by Leo’s gaze until his soul is bare for him. 

“Close your eyes”

Jason raises a confused eyebrow, arching in uncertainty. “I don’t-”

“ _Do it”_ Leo says firmly, looking around him quickly. It’s empty of even Pince here, so who’s he looking for-

Jason shuts his eyes, blocking his eyes from the soft sunlight. His skin feels extra sensitive, his ears ringing in the quiet and his tongue heavy. He hears the rustling of fabric and a press of heat as Leo steps closer. He keeps his eyes closed, obediently. Leo places his hands at either side of Jason’s face, roughed, calloused palms sending his heart into his mouth. “Leo-” he starts because he doesn’t understand, he-

“Shut up, Jason” he whispers and kisses him. 

It’s a hard press of lips against lips, warm skin against warm skin, that sends lightning and other forms of madness into Jason’s veins and soon he’s doing things without even thinking, like gripping Leo’s hips like a rope and he’s a drowning man. 

Leo tastes of mints and sugar and salt and it’s magnificent and Jason angles his head just right so their open mouths slot together-

Leo has to stand on the balls of his feet to reach Jason and he grips Jason’s hair a bit too tight and Jason doesn’t know what he’s doing and their teeth keep clacking together, but Jason has never known perfection so he’s not chasing something he’s never known-

If this is the price he has to pay to learn potions, he supposes, then it's a price he’ll gladly pay.   
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> ncbs9dcmbxf thanks for reading folxs!


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